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Vitoria-Gasteiz

1181 establishments in EuropeGothic cities and townsMunicipalities in ÁlavaPages with Basque IPAPages with Spanish IPA
Populated places established in the 12th centuryVitoria-Gasteiz
Vitoria Plaza de la Virgen Blanca, Escultura vegetal Vitoria Gasteiz !
Vitoria Plaza de la Virgen Blanca, Escultura vegetal Vitoria Gasteiz !

Vitoria-Gasteiz (Spanish: [biˈtoɾja ɣasˈtejθ, -ɣasˈtejs]; Basque: [bitoɾja ɣas̺teis̻]), also alternatively spelled as Vittoria in older English-language sources, is the seat of government and the capital city of the Basque Country and of the province of Álava in northern Spain. It holds the autonomous community's House of Parliament, the headquarters of the Government, and the Lehendakari's (Prime Minister's) official residency. The municipality—which comprises not only the city but also the mainly agricultural lands of 63 villages around—is the largest in the Basque Country, with a total area of 276.81 square kilometres (106.88 sq mi), and it has a population of 253,093 (January 2021). The dwellers of Vitoria-Gasteiz are called vitorianos or gasteiztarrak, while traditionally they are dubbed babazorros (Basque for 'bean sacks'). Vitoria-Gasteiz is a dynamic city with strengths in healthcare, aeronautics, the automotive industry, and viticulture. It is consistently ranked as one of the 5 best places to live in Spain, ranking highly in quality of life and business opportunities, it is the first Spanish municipality to be awarded the title of European Green Capital (in 2012) and it has been also recognized by the UN with the Global Green City Award (in 2019). The old town has some of the best preserved medieval streets and plazas in the region and it is one of very few cities with two cathedrals. The city also holds well known festivals such as the Azkena rock festival, FesTVal, Vitoria-Gasteiz jazz festival, and the Virgen Blanca Festivities. Vitoria-Gasteiz's vicinity is home to acclaimed wineries such as Ysios, designed by world-renowned architect Santiago Calatrava, and Marqués de Riscal, by Frank Gehry. Relevant heritage sites including the Neolithic remains of Aizkomendi, Sorginetxe and La chabola de la Hechicera; Iron Age remains such as the settlements of Lastra and Buradón; antique remains such as the settlement of La Hoya and the salt valley of Añana; and several medieval fortresses including the Tower of Mendoza and the Tower of Varona. Ludwig van Beethoven dedicated his Opus 91, often called the "Battle of Vitoria" or "Wellington's Victory", to one of the most famous events of the Napoleonic Wars: the Battle of Vitoria, in which a Spanish, Portuguese and British army under the command of General the Duke of Wellington broke the French army and nearly captured the puppet king Joseph Bonaparte. It was a pivotal point in the Peninsular War, and a precursor to the expulsion of the French army from Spain. A memorial statue can be seen today in Virgen Blanca Square.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Vitoria-Gasteiz (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Vitoria-Gasteiz
Aurelio Vera-Fajardo margolariaren kalea/Calle Pintor Aurelio Vera-Fajardo, Vitoria-Gasteiz San Martín

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N 42.85 ° E -2.6833333333333 °
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Aurelio Vera-Fajardo margolariaren kalea/Calle Pintor Aurelio Vera-Fajardo 20
01008 Vitoria-Gasteiz, San Martín
Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain
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Vitoria Plaza de la Virgen Blanca, Escultura vegetal Vitoria Gasteiz !
Vitoria Plaza de la Virgen Blanca, Escultura vegetal Vitoria Gasteiz !
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Artium Museum
Artium Museum

The Museum of Contemporary Art of the Basque Country-Artium Museoa is a contemporary art museum located in Vitoria-Gasteiz, the capital of the province of Álava in northern Spain. Designed by the architect José Luis Caton, it is owned by the Provincial Council of Álava and opened 26 April 2002 and its director is Daniel Castillejo. The Museum was a created by the initiative of the Provincial Council of Alava, which is the owner of most of the works that are in the museum, and it's the owner of the building too. The aim of this museum is to develop the critical view of the society and to make Alava be associated with art and culture. The Museum has three tools: firstly, there's the collection of contemporary art, secondly, the temporary exhibitions and finally an intensive programme of educational and cultural activities, in which there's the option of groups of schools to go to the museum as an educational activity. The museum holds works by numerous artists, including Miquel Barceló, Joseph Beuys, Joan Brossa, Juan Francisco Casas, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Eduardo Chillida, Salvador Dalí, Óscar Domínguez, Manolo Millares, Joan Miró, Juan Muñoz, Jorge Oteiza, Pablo Palazuelo, Pablo Picasso, Antonio Saura, Antoni Tàpies, Juan Uslé, and Darío Villalba. It also includes a library and documentation center, both of which are open to the public. The Artium is one of the symbols of Vitoria-Gasteiz and it represents one of the fundamental assets of the art scene in Spain.

Basque Parliament
Basque Parliament

The Basque Parliament (Basque: Eusko Legebiltzarra, Spanish: Parlamento Vasco) is the legislative body of the Basque Autonomous Community of Spain and the elected assembly to which the Basque Government is responsible. The Parliament meets in the Basque capital, Vitoria-Gasteiz, although the first session of the modern assembly, as constituted by the Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country, was held in Guernica – the symbolic centre of Basque freedoms – on 31 March 1980. Later in 1980 it started meeting at the premises of the Council of Álava. In 1982, it got its own site in a former high school. The symbol of the Parliament is an oaken sculpture by Nestor Basterretxea representing a stylized tree, an allusion to the tradition of Basque political assemblies meeting under a tree, as in Guernica. It is composed of seventy-five deputies representing citizens from the three provinces of the Basque autonomous community. Each province (Álava, Gipuzkoa and Biscay) elects the same number of deputies, despite their having very different levels of population. This was chosen to earn support from Álava and Navarre, less populated territories. Still, Navarre did not join the autonomous community. The elections are held using closed list proportional representation with seats allocated on a Provincial basis using the D'Hondt method of allocation. To qualify for seats in a particular province, electoral lists must receive at least 3% of the votes cast in that province, including votes "en blanco" for "none of the above." From 1984 to 2001, the election threshold was 5% in each province. Sessions of the Basque Parliament are conducted in both Basque and Spanish, with translation services. The Parliament consists of 75 deputies elected by universal adult suffrage under a system of proportional representation.